Amazon Restock Limits

They say it takes 10 000 hours to master a new skill. So, it would take 417 full days or 3 hours a day for 3 333 days to reach this milestone. Expertise can sometimes seem unachievable, and many humans will never master a skill because of how much time and effort must be put in.

10 000 is a significant number – it’s also the number of sellers affected by the latest shift in stock limits. Most recently, Amazon sellers have been notified that restock limits will change again, and around 6% of US sellers will be affected by these changes. Many of these sellers have put more than 10 000 hours into their craft, yet they cannot master the mysteries of the everchanging stock limits imposed by Amazon.

What Are Amazon Restock Limits?

A restock limit is the cap Amazon sets for sellers that restricts stored inventory in an FBA warehouse at a given time.

With the most recent amendment of rules, Amazon has decided to restrict it to a storage level type rather than an ASIN level. ASIN level refers to the amount of inventory you hold for each item you sell, while storage level type refers to limiting the number of items stored of a specific type.

There are six predefined storage types that sellers need to be aware of:

1. Standard size
2. Oversize
3. Apparel
4. Footwear
5. Flammable
6. Aerosol

 Peak sales times (like the holiday season) are always difficult to monitor because with the new restock limits stock limits now being limited to storage type, it leaves less space for products in the same category.

The Contradiction With Amazons Actions

The main contradiction comes with Amazon implementing its own 3PL services, AWD (Amazon Warehousing and Distribution), and implementing little to no stock restrictions.

This means they are heavily restricting FBA warehouses, pushing their sellers to use AWD to house the majority of their stock while drip-feeding smaller quantities into their FBA warehouses, and it seems as if these services will stay separate.

With AWD set to be available for global fulfillment in 2023, it feels as if Amazon is becoming its own problem and solution for the whole topic of stock limitation

AWD has its pros and cons. Some of the pros include:

• No stock limits (which makes no sense why they would limit their FBA warehousing)
• Inventory transfer
• Pay-as-you-go pricing

While some of its cons include:

• Less control of your inventory
• Being more costly than your average 3PL

What Does This Mean for Sellers?

More sellers will have to start relying on 3PL warehouses (AWD and external services) and distribution into FBA warehouses and even for their distribution outside of the Amazon selling space, such as Shopify, WooCommerce, Alibaba, and many other marketplaces around the world.

Sellers will have to rely on putting products on special or discount to get rid of irrelevant stock or out-of-season items. Removal Orders, Stock Liquidation, or Canceling open shipments is a solution for unwanted stock, but it’s rarely the solution sellers want to consider. When you have trouble with your stock control, your ranking and ‘relationship’ within the store can also be heavily affected. They may even hinder you from winning the buy box that already happens daily.

How Zee Can Help You Combat Stock Limits

At Zee, our team, like the sellers, has accumulated more than 10 000 hours of experience within the e-commerce space, making us masters of our craft and your preferred professionals.

• With Zee, we assist you with organizing smaller and more frequent shipments so your inventory stays up to date and you can stay in control of when and what you sell.
• We help set you up with 3PL partners across the globe and inventory management tool providers. You don’t have to do hours of research on the one that best suits your needs. We have done the homework for you.

FBA setup can be a pain. We help navigate those tricky obstacles to ensure that your shipments and products are ready to go at any time.